Limes - Rhinestone River lp - BLACK VINYL (Goner)

$11.99

Memphis is home to several of rock's most endearingly off-kilter rock
storytellers, from Jim Dickinson to Jeffrey Evans to Ross Johnson. To
that list, one can now add Shawn Cripps, leader of The Limes. On
the band's debut full-length, Rhinestone River, Cripps retains the
musical talents of Harlan T. Bobo, who previously helped on The Limes'
Rock 'n' Roll Heart single. Bobo's hypnotic keyboards perfectly
complement Cripps's gritty guitar work and vocals, particularly on
"Sounds Like a Shimmy." Rhinestone River also features contributions by
Memphis scene stalwarts Ross Johnson, Paul Buchignani (Afghan Whigs,
Bobo's backing band), Alicja Trout (Lost Sounds, River City Tanlines)
and Bruce Saltmarsh ('68 Comeback, Porch Ghouls). The
title track, with its wobbly gait and lyrics like "Sitting on this
barstool, sweating the rhinestone river," can induce secondhand
drunkenness in anyone within earshot. "Rhinestone River" is the closest
an American band has gotten to the pickled poetry of the Country
Teasers. The momentum and melody of "Bottom of the Hole" unfurl like the
narrative thrust of a bourbon-soaked anecdote at two in the morning. The
album's crown jewel is the closing track, "Last Year." Cater-cornered
rock guitars and Cripps's talkin' vocal style build up to a woozy climax
that culminates in a feral "woo-hoo." Like the other great songs on
Rhinestone River, it threatens to fall apart several times but Cripps,
with a little help from his friends and his engaging personality, holds
it all together.